Juiced
11-21-2008, 06:14 PM
Frank Mir has grown accustomed to hardships. After taking the UFC by storm, when he conquered the heavyweight belt in 2004, he suffered a serious motorcycle accident, obliging him to stay out of the octagon for about a year and a half. Back, he was caught by surprise by Brazilian fighter Marcio Pe de Pano, and fell to the back of the line in the dispute for the category’s belt. Little by little, Mir recovered, and by submitting giant Brock Lesnar in spectacular fashion at UFC 81, in February, he returned to the spotlight. Such that he was called up to compete side by side with Rodrigo Minotauro, as coaches on the The Ultimate Fighter reality show.
Mission accomplished before the cameras, now it’s time to face that which Mir himself has said is the most important challenge of his life: beating Rodrigo Minotauro. Should he succeed, he will be called upon to test his sinews against the winner of the bout between Brock Lesnar and Randy Couture, to take place this Saturday.
A man who speaks with ease, with well-centered ideas, Frank Mir spoke with Nalty Jr., special GRACIEMAG.com collaborator in the United States. The chat was so fruitful that it will be published in two parts. The first part, touching on preparations for facing the Brazilian, you can find below. The second part, in which Mir praises Jiu-Jitsu, and touches on the controversial season of the Ultimate Fighter, you can find tomorrow.
On December 27th you will have the most important fight of your life against Rodrigo Minotauro, who is one of the best fighters in the world. What are your thoughts on that?
I think it’s a great opportunity that I’m able to fight one of the best fighters in the world. Nogueira is one of the best finishers in MMA. If I get out there and have a good performance it’ll be great. The truth is I have nothing to lose in this fight, but if I win, it will be the most important win of my career. I’ll give it my all, do the possible and impossible to win, but just being able to fight an MMA legend is good for me and good for my career.
What are you expecting in this fight?
I’ll have to fight like I’ve never fought before. Minotauro has really good boxing, and good wrestling, he knows how to get the takedown, he’s one of the best Jiu-Jitsu players in MMA. I’ll be fighting a guy who’s never been submitted or knocked out, I’ll try and win a decision, or maybe submit him with a footlock or armbar.
What do you plan to do to win?
Honestly I don’t see myself knocking or choking him out, getting him in a triangle or armbar. I see all that as nearly impossible, but I can hit him and make him fall and get points that way to win a decision. I saw Barnett nearly get him, you never know… Minotauro is really good at Jiu-Jitsu, and on the ground it’s much harder to beat him.
How have you been preparing?
I’m training with the best in the world. Striking with Wanderlei Silva, ground with Robert Drysdale, Demian Maia and others. I train with a team of experienced professionals to get my stamina up to the maximum. Minotauro has a strong team training with him, so in my training, I train so it counts, and with every session I try to become a better fighter for this fight.
What’s your main weapon for this fight?
I believe my best weapon is the fact I don’t just train Jiu-Jitsu or muay thai, I train MMA now. In my opinion you can’t just train one style. What I do is train a little of everything, my thoughts are focused on MMA.
You were a commentator at the last WEC. What did you think of the Urijah Faber vs Mike Brown and Paulo Filho vs Chael Sonnen bouts?
What happens is that when it comes to striking, Mike Brown is an excellent fighter, he got a clean punch on Urijah Faber, which opened his eye up, blocking part of his vision. That’s the dangerous part of boxing. That was where Mike Brown won the fight. That’s why I like Jiu-Jitsu so much, since you can eliminate that danger. It’s much better if you can simply take the guy to the ground. But sometimes there’s no way to do that, and you have to stand and trade. On Paulo’s fight with Sonnen, I honestly don’t know what happened with Paulo. I watched that three-round fight, 15 minutes, and it was just nuts. Something had to be wrong in his private life. But whatever his problems may be, he has to fix them before getting in the ring again. That was not the Paulo I know. He’s a much better fighter than the one who showed up at this last fight.
Who do you think will win the bout between Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar?
It will surely be a great fight, really tough. Without wanting to discredit Randy Couture, but Brock Lesnar’s no joke…
Part 2:
On December 27th Frank Mir will have his hands full in trying to stop Minotauro. As the American himself recognized (click here for the first part of the interview), finishing off the Brazilian is a tough task. More than representing an obstacle in Mir’s march to the UFC heavyweight title, Minotauro is also a reference as a fighter, and more, he represents an art Mir is in love with: Jiu-Jitsu.
The second part of the conversation with Frank Mir was due to the collaboration of Nalty Jr., and you can see here all the admiration Minotauro’s next opponent has for the martial art. What’s more, he also touches on controversies from the The Ultimate Fighter reality show, in which he starred alongside his upcoming opponent.
You broke Tim Sylvia’s arm, submitted Brock Lesnar, do you see your strength as being your Jiu-Jitsu? These days we are seeing many fighters making a special effort in their Jiu-Jitsu, what do you think of that?
Maybe I’m one of the best Americans at it, but Jiu-Jitsu continues to be a sport completely dominated by Brazilians. In competitions like the ADCC and the Worlds, you can see how the sport is dominated by Brazilians. There are many more Brazilians who are good at Jiu-Jitsu than there are Americans. Brazil has the most dangerous guys and finishers. We’re trying to get there. I love Jiu-Jitsu, I think the best way to finish a fight is with a submission. Knockouts happen, but you run a lot of risk, like breaking your hand or trying to get the knockout and getting knocked out. A lot of guys ending up getting lucky wins with a knockout and others are accidentally knocked out. Jiu-Jitsu is 100% technique and skill. There’s no luck involved. It’s really rare someone getting accidentally submitted in a triangle.
Which Jiu-Jitsu fighter do you admire most?
I think Roger Gracie is great. I’m a fan of his Jiu-Jitsu.
This season of the UFC reality show is being considered one of the best. What can you say about the situations taking place in the house and the time you spent with Minotauro before the fight?
They tried to make me into the “bad guy”, but the truth is I have more respect for Minotauro than it seems. Sometimes it seems I’m not paying attention to what he says, but that’s not so. When he would come talk to me, I would think about what I should or shouldn’t say, and that was misinterpreted. There’s so much going on, everyone waiting to hear what you’ll say, cameras everywhere. There are so many things in the contract that we can or cannot say. Some folks ask me why I acted like a brat and disrespected Minotauro. But the truth is there was nothing like that. For example, on the pranks going on in the house, the production crew themselves provided incentive for this attitude. Production provided all the material for the pranks. When Minotauro came to talk to me about it, they made me out to not care, but the truth was I couldn’t do anything about it. The guys, the owners of the show, who pay the bills, they were doing all that, who am I to stop everything or say something about it? That wouldn’t be right, the guys give the orders. Minotauro told the guys to stop it, but Minotauro is Minotauro, he’s a legend, he can say what he wants to. I’m not a legend yet, so I have to listen to what other people tell me to do.
Everyone was talking about a situation that took place in The Ultimate Fighter between Minotauro and Vinicius Magalhaes. Minotauro was very bothered by that. Can you clear up what really happened?
All that was a big misunderstanding. We were talking about who the best in Jiu-Jitsu is, speaking about competition Jiu-Jitsu. Not MMA. Vinny didn’t say he’s better than Minotauro or vice versa. He said he had won more Jiu-Jitsu competitions than Minotauro. And that’s the truth, Vinny has more competition Jiu-Jitsu titles than Minotauro. Minotauro took that the wrong way and ended up seeing it as an act of disrespect. Vinny knows Minotauro is better at Jiu-Jitsu in MMA. In my opinion it was all just a big misunderstanding.
Frank, excuse me, but I watched the program and saw you and Vinny saying Minotauro had basic Jiu-Jitsu…
No, what we wanted to say was that his Jiu-Jitsu is basic but awesome, there are no holes in it. Basic Jiu-Jitsu is what works. Minotauro is perfect at everything, what we said is that Minotauro doesn’t use crazy moves like gogoplatas, he finished with triangles, guillotines, armbars. That’s what we were trying to say.
What are your plans for the future?
I’m going to keep participating in the sport, helping my partners train, keep on winning. Everyone wants to win, I want to beat Minotauro this next fight and after that fight whoever I need to. I want to keep working as an MMA commentator. I just want to keep being a part of making the sport grow.
You’ve been doing MMA a long time. What do you think of the evolution of the sport around the world?
Mission accomplished before the cameras, now it’s time to face that which Mir himself has said is the most important challenge of his life: beating Rodrigo Minotauro. Should he succeed, he will be called upon to test his sinews against the winner of the bout between Brock Lesnar and Randy Couture, to take place this Saturday.
A man who speaks with ease, with well-centered ideas, Frank Mir spoke with Nalty Jr., special GRACIEMAG.com collaborator in the United States. The chat was so fruitful that it will be published in two parts. The first part, touching on preparations for facing the Brazilian, you can find below. The second part, in which Mir praises Jiu-Jitsu, and touches on the controversial season of the Ultimate Fighter, you can find tomorrow.
On December 27th you will have the most important fight of your life against Rodrigo Minotauro, who is one of the best fighters in the world. What are your thoughts on that?
I think it’s a great opportunity that I’m able to fight one of the best fighters in the world. Nogueira is one of the best finishers in MMA. If I get out there and have a good performance it’ll be great. The truth is I have nothing to lose in this fight, but if I win, it will be the most important win of my career. I’ll give it my all, do the possible and impossible to win, but just being able to fight an MMA legend is good for me and good for my career.
What are you expecting in this fight?
I’ll have to fight like I’ve never fought before. Minotauro has really good boxing, and good wrestling, he knows how to get the takedown, he’s one of the best Jiu-Jitsu players in MMA. I’ll be fighting a guy who’s never been submitted or knocked out, I’ll try and win a decision, or maybe submit him with a footlock or armbar.
What do you plan to do to win?
Honestly I don’t see myself knocking or choking him out, getting him in a triangle or armbar. I see all that as nearly impossible, but I can hit him and make him fall and get points that way to win a decision. I saw Barnett nearly get him, you never know… Minotauro is really good at Jiu-Jitsu, and on the ground it’s much harder to beat him.
How have you been preparing?
I’m training with the best in the world. Striking with Wanderlei Silva, ground with Robert Drysdale, Demian Maia and others. I train with a team of experienced professionals to get my stamina up to the maximum. Minotauro has a strong team training with him, so in my training, I train so it counts, and with every session I try to become a better fighter for this fight.
What’s your main weapon for this fight?
I believe my best weapon is the fact I don’t just train Jiu-Jitsu or muay thai, I train MMA now. In my opinion you can’t just train one style. What I do is train a little of everything, my thoughts are focused on MMA.
You were a commentator at the last WEC. What did you think of the Urijah Faber vs Mike Brown and Paulo Filho vs Chael Sonnen bouts?
What happens is that when it comes to striking, Mike Brown is an excellent fighter, he got a clean punch on Urijah Faber, which opened his eye up, blocking part of his vision. That’s the dangerous part of boxing. That was where Mike Brown won the fight. That’s why I like Jiu-Jitsu so much, since you can eliminate that danger. It’s much better if you can simply take the guy to the ground. But sometimes there’s no way to do that, and you have to stand and trade. On Paulo’s fight with Sonnen, I honestly don’t know what happened with Paulo. I watched that three-round fight, 15 minutes, and it was just nuts. Something had to be wrong in his private life. But whatever his problems may be, he has to fix them before getting in the ring again. That was not the Paulo I know. He’s a much better fighter than the one who showed up at this last fight.
Who do you think will win the bout between Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar?
It will surely be a great fight, really tough. Without wanting to discredit Randy Couture, but Brock Lesnar’s no joke…
Part 2:
On December 27th Frank Mir will have his hands full in trying to stop Minotauro. As the American himself recognized (click here for the first part of the interview), finishing off the Brazilian is a tough task. More than representing an obstacle in Mir’s march to the UFC heavyweight title, Minotauro is also a reference as a fighter, and more, he represents an art Mir is in love with: Jiu-Jitsu.
The second part of the conversation with Frank Mir was due to the collaboration of Nalty Jr., and you can see here all the admiration Minotauro’s next opponent has for the martial art. What’s more, he also touches on controversies from the The Ultimate Fighter reality show, in which he starred alongside his upcoming opponent.
You broke Tim Sylvia’s arm, submitted Brock Lesnar, do you see your strength as being your Jiu-Jitsu? These days we are seeing many fighters making a special effort in their Jiu-Jitsu, what do you think of that?
Maybe I’m one of the best Americans at it, but Jiu-Jitsu continues to be a sport completely dominated by Brazilians. In competitions like the ADCC and the Worlds, you can see how the sport is dominated by Brazilians. There are many more Brazilians who are good at Jiu-Jitsu than there are Americans. Brazil has the most dangerous guys and finishers. We’re trying to get there. I love Jiu-Jitsu, I think the best way to finish a fight is with a submission. Knockouts happen, but you run a lot of risk, like breaking your hand or trying to get the knockout and getting knocked out. A lot of guys ending up getting lucky wins with a knockout and others are accidentally knocked out. Jiu-Jitsu is 100% technique and skill. There’s no luck involved. It’s really rare someone getting accidentally submitted in a triangle.
Which Jiu-Jitsu fighter do you admire most?
I think Roger Gracie is great. I’m a fan of his Jiu-Jitsu.
This season of the UFC reality show is being considered one of the best. What can you say about the situations taking place in the house and the time you spent with Minotauro before the fight?
They tried to make me into the “bad guy”, but the truth is I have more respect for Minotauro than it seems. Sometimes it seems I’m not paying attention to what he says, but that’s not so. When he would come talk to me, I would think about what I should or shouldn’t say, and that was misinterpreted. There’s so much going on, everyone waiting to hear what you’ll say, cameras everywhere. There are so many things in the contract that we can or cannot say. Some folks ask me why I acted like a brat and disrespected Minotauro. But the truth is there was nothing like that. For example, on the pranks going on in the house, the production crew themselves provided incentive for this attitude. Production provided all the material for the pranks. When Minotauro came to talk to me about it, they made me out to not care, but the truth was I couldn’t do anything about it. The guys, the owners of the show, who pay the bills, they were doing all that, who am I to stop everything or say something about it? That wouldn’t be right, the guys give the orders. Minotauro told the guys to stop it, but Minotauro is Minotauro, he’s a legend, he can say what he wants to. I’m not a legend yet, so I have to listen to what other people tell me to do.
Everyone was talking about a situation that took place in The Ultimate Fighter between Minotauro and Vinicius Magalhaes. Minotauro was very bothered by that. Can you clear up what really happened?
All that was a big misunderstanding. We were talking about who the best in Jiu-Jitsu is, speaking about competition Jiu-Jitsu. Not MMA. Vinny didn’t say he’s better than Minotauro or vice versa. He said he had won more Jiu-Jitsu competitions than Minotauro. And that’s the truth, Vinny has more competition Jiu-Jitsu titles than Minotauro. Minotauro took that the wrong way and ended up seeing it as an act of disrespect. Vinny knows Minotauro is better at Jiu-Jitsu in MMA. In my opinion it was all just a big misunderstanding.
Frank, excuse me, but I watched the program and saw you and Vinny saying Minotauro had basic Jiu-Jitsu…
No, what we wanted to say was that his Jiu-Jitsu is basic but awesome, there are no holes in it. Basic Jiu-Jitsu is what works. Minotauro is perfect at everything, what we said is that Minotauro doesn’t use crazy moves like gogoplatas, he finished with triangles, guillotines, armbars. That’s what we were trying to say.
What are your plans for the future?
I’m going to keep participating in the sport, helping my partners train, keep on winning. Everyone wants to win, I want to beat Minotauro this next fight and after that fight whoever I need to. I want to keep working as an MMA commentator. I just want to keep being a part of making the sport grow.
You’ve been doing MMA a long time. What do you think of the evolution of the sport around the world?